In this week’s “The Starter,” Wyndham Clark wins his second U.S. Open title at Shinnecock Hills, Sam Burns makes Sunday much tighter than expected, Scottie Scheffler’s career Grand Slam chase waits another year and Miyu Yamashita wins the Meijer LPGA Classic in a playoff.

The PGA Tour: Wyndham Clark’s Second U.S. Open Title Was About Holding On

Wyndham Clark did not need to play a perfect final round Sunday at Shinnecock Hills.

He needed to finish the job.

That sounds simple, but anyone who has watched enough U.S. Opens knows better. A six-shot lead can look comfortable on Saturday night. It can feel much different when the wind picks up, the greens get faster, the crowd gets louder, and the players behind you start making birdies.

Clark entered the final round with control of the championship. By the end, he had survived enough trouble to win by one shot over Sam Burns and claim his second U.S. Open title.

Clark closed with a 3-over 73 and finished at 4 under for the championship. That score alone tells part of the story. This was not a runaway on Sunday. It was a U.S. Open finish that became more about patience, composure and damage control than anything else.

That is often what this championship becomes.

Clark had opened the week with a 64, put himself in front early and stayed there. By leading after every round, he added a wire-to-wire element to a win that was still anything but easy. The final margin was tight. The pressure was real. The golf was not always clean.

But the result was clear.

Clark is now a two-time U.S. Open champion.

That is a serious distinction.

Shinnecock Hills Asked the Right Questions

This U.S. Open also worked because Shinnecock Hills did what Shinnecock Hills is supposed to do.

It tested players without making the championship feel like the setup was the only story. The course was firm, demanding and uncomfortable. It rewarded players who could keep the ball in position and punished those who tried to force too much.

That is the best version of a U.S. Open.

Clark handled that better than anyone over four days. His Sunday was not his sharpest round of the week, but it did not have to be. He had built the cushion. Then he had to spend the final round protecting it.

That is a different skill.

Playing with a big lead in a major championship is not easy golf. The player in front often feels as if everyone else gets to chase freely while he has to carry the weight of the tournament. Every bogey feels larger. Every missed fairway feels louder. Every routine par feels necessary.

Clark showed some wobble, especially as Burns made his move, but he never let the championship fully get away from him.

That was the difference.

Sam Burns Made Sunday Matter

Sam Burns deserves a major share of credit for turning the final round into a real finish.

Burns closed with a 67 and pushed Clark all the way to the end. He made the lead feel fragile and gave the championship the tension it needed. For a while, what had looked like a comfortable Clark lead became something much more uncertain.

Burns did not win, but this was another strong U.S. Open performance from a player whose game continues to look increasingly comfortable in this kind of test.

There are weeks when a runner-up finish can feel empty. This one should feel like more than that.

Burns showed he could chase on a difficult Sunday setup. He showed he could keep moving forward when the player ahead of him had a large head start. He made Clark respond.

That matters.

It does not erase the sting of coming up one shot short, but it adds another piece of evidence that Burns can be a factor in these championships. Major championship golf is often about putting yourself close enough often enough until one of those Sundays finally turns your way.

Burns did that this week.

Clark simply had enough left.

Scottie Scheffler’s Grand Slam Chase Waits

Scottie Scheffler entered the week with one of the biggest storylines in golf.

A U.S. Open victory would have completed the career Grand Slam. That alone gave his week at Shinnecock Hills a different level of attention, even before he played his way into the final pairing with Clark on Sunday.

The final round never quite became the Scheffler charge many expected.

Scheffler finished tied for fourth at even par. That is a strong U.S. Open result for almost anyone, but Scheffler is not judged like almost anyone. He has set a different standard, and when a major championship is there to be taken, anything short of serious Sunday pressure feels like a missed chance.

The putter never heated up enough. The momentum never fully arrived. He stayed visible, but he did not become the central threat.

That is golf, even for the best player in the world.

The Grand Slam conversation is not going away. Scheffler will have more chances, and he will likely be in this position again. Still, major opportunities are never guaranteed. Shinnecock gave him a look, but it did not give him the final piece.

For now, that chase continues.

Why Clark’s Win Changes the Conversation

Clark’s first U.S. Open win at Los Angeles Country Club in 2023 made him a major champion.

This win makes the conversation different.

One major can change a career. Two U.S. Opens change how a player is viewed in the game. This was not a one-week run or a one-time breakthrough. Clark has now won the national championship twice on two very different stages, under two very different sets of circumstances.

That matters.

At Los Angeles Country Club, he broke through. At Shinnecock Hills, he backed it up.

There will be plenty of focus on the tension of Sunday and how close the finish became. That is fair. Clark had a six-shot lead and ended up winning by one. But the final margin should not overshadow the larger achievement.

He led all week. He took the lead early. He absorbed the pressure late. He made the key birdie at the par-5 16th when he needed it most.

That is winning U.S. Open golf.

It does not always look pretty.

It does not have to.

The LPGA Tour: Miyu Yamashita Wins at the Meijer LPGA Classic

The LPGA Tour also had a dramatic Sunday, with Miyu Yamashita winning the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give in a playoff over Lottie Woad at Blythefield Country Club.

Yamashita and Woad finished regulation tied at 17 under, setting up a playoff between two players who had separated themselves from the rest of the field. Yamashita then won the playoff on the par-5 18th.

For Yamashita, it was a strong finish to a week that required patience and timing. For Woad, it was a close call that will be hard to shake, especially after being in position to win late.

That is the harsh part of tournament golf.

A player can do almost everything right for four days and still leave with the feeling that one moment decided the week. Woad was right there. Yamashita took advantage when the tournament gave her the opening.

With the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship next on the schedule at Hazeltine, the LPGA now turns from a playoff finish in Michigan to one of its biggest stages of the season.

That is a good transition for the women’s game.

The Closing Thought

This week in golf worked because Sunday did not give anyone a clean, easy finish.

Clark had the lead, but Shinnecock Hills made him prove he could protect it. Burns had the chase, but he needed one more break to finish it. Scheffler had the Grand Slam storyline, but he never found the kind of final-round run that could make it happen.

That is major championship golf.

It is rarely as simple as the leaderboard looks when the day begins. A six-shot lead can shrink. A player chasing can suddenly look like the one with momentum. A favorite can stay close without ever finding the one stretch that changes everything.

Clark’s win was not flawless, but it was strong. It was strong because he stayed upright when the round became uncomfortable. It was strong because he had done enough great work early in the week to withstand the mistakes late. It was strong because the final test at Shinnecock Hills still ended with him holding the trophy.

The LPGA had its own version of Sunday pressure, with Yamashita winning a playoff and Woad left with a near miss that will sting for a while.

Different tournaments.

Different kinds of pressure.

Same reminder.

Golf does not always reward the cleanest path. Sometimes it rewards the player who keeps going when the clean path disappears.

At Shinnecock Hills, that player was Wyndham Clark.